In fact, many of the issues King has raised so far are identical to those addressed by his opponents—crime, unemployment, the city's "livability," the need for development in the neighborhoods instead of downtown. Some issues, like the death of rent control scheduled for the end of the year, have remained his exclusively, but even where the issues are the same, King's approach is often markedly sharper than his opponents'. He lays the blame for the recent violence in the city—the Roxbury murders, the Brighton rapes and the Blue Hill Avenue stonings—squarely on the doorstep of White's administration.

"This administration in 12 years has buried its head in the sand and has not taken one meaningful stand on issues of crime and violence in this city," he told some supporters last week. "When you have the level of violence in this city, it is because you have an administration that countenances it." So far as we know, he is the only candidate who has termed as "racial" the Blue Hill Avenue incidents, in which black youths have stoned cars driven by whites and then robbed the motorists, and he has criticized Boston Police Superintendent Earl Bolt, a black, for saying otherwise. "That's crazy,' he said of Bolt's characterization of the stonings. "We have to hone it down and face reality."

In the South End, where he is enormously popular, and in the black community as well, what King has to say during the campaign will be accorded a respectful hearing. But even his most ardent supporters fear he will have a hard time getting his message across to the rest of the city's populace. "I think the toughest issue his candidacy faces," said one long-time associate, "is the political capital he's spent through the years, the image he's accumulated." This image is one of militancy reinforced by his very size (6-foot-5), his style of dress (dashikis, overalls, pendants), and his facial appearance (bushy beard, shaved head, glaring eyes). It is an image that might make him a drawing card on the radical-chic cocktail-party circuit but is not guaranteed to gain him admittance to West Roxbury coffee klatches with the girls. And they vote more.

* * *

Even though the desire for change can result in conflict or confrontation, I believe they are a necessary part of the process to achieve change . . . . The current confrontations between men and women, black and white, have-nots and have-a-lots must be seen as vital to the development of near-ultimate political form and community.

Racial healing To be sure, racism still exists. But the distance our culture has come in 50 years — from blacks fighting for basic civil rights to a black man running for the White House — is remarkable.

Holding his punches All year, Boston’s political observers have been watching for signs of an anti-Menino tipping point in the mayoral race.

Deval Patrick and the mosque I was extremely disappointed to read your close-minded, ignorant, and bigoted position on Governor Deval Patrick’s meeting with Muslims at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury.

Redskin redux A couple months ago, when I wrote about the fact that the Sanford and Wiscasset high schools are the last remaining Maine schools using the mascot nickname “redskins,” Sanford principal Allan Young told me that if “redskin” critics called his students racists, he would support a change.

Black like him? Whatever your race — and whatever you think of his résumé, or his politics, or his yen for tax-cheating cabinet nominees — Barack Obama's arrival in the Oval Office is something to celebrate.

Ask the black woman I've lived in Maine for seven years and been writing for this fine publication for about five, and during that time I've covered a wide array of subjects on the issue of diversity in Maine.

Blackballed Turner might want to avoid hitching his fortunes to those of such utterly disreputable pols as former DC mayor Marion Barry, ex-Newark mayor Sharpe James, and Dianne Wilkerson.

Review: American Violet Arrested for a crime she didn't commit, Dee Roberts is enlisted by an ACLU lawyer (Tim Blake Nelson) to sue the county for racist intent and stop the DA from what is continually referred to as "terrorizing the black community."

Racism in real estate After more than a decade in the business, the real-estate agent knew that many landlords had very narrow ideas about whom they did and didn't want living in their apartments and houses. Most of them were fairly subtle about it. "I want the right people," they might say, being careful to couch their instructions in innocuous-sounding terms.